A key piece of identification given to several thousand immigrants in Montgomery County that can be used to help enroll children in school is being issued without proof of residency in the county, immigrant advocates said. Leaders of immigrant advocacy group CASA of Maryland estimate the organization has provided more than 10,000 immigrants with “CASA of Maryland” identification cards over the past 10 years.

Immigrants at CASA on Monday said day labor employers prefer hiring those with ID. The cards can also be used to cash checks at some banks and as one of three residency documents required to enroll children in Montgomery County public schools.

But to qualify to get an ID card from CASA, you don’t need proof of Montgomery residence. All you need, according to CASA director of services Maria Paige, is a government-issued ID with a photo from your native country. Paige on Monday acknowledged flaws in this system and said CASA was looking at ways to change the process.

“We have a challenge,” Paige said. “We ask people to provide address proof but a lot of immigrants don’t even rent anything more than a sofa or a bed that somebody else sleeps in during the night and they sleep in during the day.”

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Omar Lemos, 27, a Silver Spring resident who comes from El Salvador, said Monday that he feels like IDs are necessary to walk down the street.

“You can be walking somewhere and the authorities can stop you and ask you for IDs for whatever reason, and it helps to have this,” Lemos said in Spanish while at CASA to get an ID. “At least it’s something to show who you are.”

Besides the CASA-issued cards, Montgomery County also accepts controversial “matricula consular” ID cards issued by numerous Latin American countries’ embassies regardless of immigration status.

County Council spokeswoman Jean Arthur said there’s “no obvious evidence” that the county is tracking their usage, but the consular cards have been allowed as a valid form of personal ID for nearly four years. Nationally, some groups have come out against the matricula consular concept, saying the cards are only useful for foreigners in the country illegally. CASA officials say they have agreements with Montgomery and Prince George’s County and Washington, D.C. police departments to accept their cards as valid identification during routine stops.

They’re not alone. According to research from the Center for Immigration Studies, the matricula card is now accepted by 800 local law enforcement agencies and 74 banks.

kmiller@dcexaminer.com

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com

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